Can you hear me now?

Several weeks ago I almost got myself in trouble.  I took a  trip to Dallas and as I left the city, I was driving behind a pickup truck.  It was older and had "junk" in the bed of the truck.  Upon closer examination, I discovered that there was an old pay phone in the mix of the stuff. 

Of course I am intrigued by things of the past.  I love antiques but even more so, I love the story they tell.  I followed this truck through red light after red light contemplating what my next step would be.  I thought that I would approach the driver, an elderly man, and offer to pay him for this "old" pay phone.

I was adamant that I was to have that pay phone.  I already envisioned in my mind, teaching a Bible Study lesson using that phone.  I just had to have it and I needed a plan.  I even prayed about how to get it.  I drove on and it just appeared that it was destiny that I get it.  We stopped at every light!  It was early in the morning about 6:30AM and the sun was peering out so bright.  It was a good morning to benefit from a great find.

Then just for a moment I thought that with every passing day, our technology changes more and more.  I remember when bag phones first came out and how everyone longed to have one.  Then came flip phones, razors, iphones and the growth continues. 

It got me to thinking...like that old pay phone in that truck, are we stuck on the old when we try to communicate with God?  Do we do fail to grow in our prayer life?  Are we so busy, tired, or pre-occupied to pray.  Do we say thank you for my food, thank you for the day or thank you for the weather and then end it? 

When Jesus spoke with the Father, He went to a place where He was alone and communicated with him.  Not by making demands or His own wish list but by asking for God's will to be done.  We have become a society so busy that there is hardly any down time.  We are on the phone when we wake up, at the grocery store, at public restaurants and yes-even in public restrooms!  We are always talking on the phone.

I wondered if we calculated the time we are on the phone how it would outweigh the time we talk to God.  I also wondered if in talking to God, I was stuck using an old pay phone when all along, the iphone5 was available. Today, we can even talk face to face on a phone.   How do you communicate with God?  Are you really talking to him or are you stuck on the "Can you hear me now?" God stands ready to listen for those who are ready to meet and communicate with him. 

Call unto me and I will answer thee and show you great and mighty things which thou knowest not.
Jeremiah 33:3


By the way, I did not approach the man.  Instead, I left him at a red light and turned right as I headed for the freeway.